Vacuum cleaner with an auxiliary motor

ABSTRACT

A vacuum cleaner includes a main body and a vacuum head connected to the main body through an air hose. The main body includes a main motor and a main impeller driven by the main motor. The vacuum head includes an auxiliary motor connected to the auxiliary impeller and configured to drive the auxiliary impeller. Both the main impeller and the auxiliary impeller are in the duct of the vacuum cleaner. The vacuum uses two smaller power motors to combine the vacuuming effect of the high power motor. This not only reduces costs, improves overall efficiency, but also reduces noise.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to Chinese Utility Model Application No. 201820288802.0, filed Mar. 1, 2018, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The disclosure relates to a vacuum cleaner, and especially relates to a mechanism for generating suction of a vacuum cleaner.

BACKGROUND

Vacuum cleaners sucks dust or the like on the ground or items into a container by the suction force generated by the impeller driven the motor. Large household vacuum cleaners typically have a main body that includes a power source, a motor, a control circuitry, and a vacuum head that can be operated by the user by hand, and positioned relative to the body. The vacuum head is connected to the main body through an air hose, so that negative pressure generated by the impeller of the main body can cause dust impurities and the like to be sucked into the vacuum head together with the air, and reach the container of the main body through the air hose.

A problem with prior art vacuum cleaners is that the suction force at the vacuum head is not equal to the original suction force generated by the motor and the impeller in the main body. Conversely, as the length of the air channel of the vacuum cleaner (e.g., air hose) increases, the suction force at the air inlet of the vacuum head is reduced. In order to maintain a desired vacuuming effect, the vacuum cleaners in prior art use high power motors. However, the use of high power motor does not only have a significant impact on power consumption, but also makes circuit design more complex, and high power motors put forward higher requirements on the electrical characteristics of various circuit components.

SUMMARY

Accordingly, an embodiment provides a vacuum cleaner including a body and a vacuum head connected to the main body via an air hose. The main body includes a main motor and a main impeller driven by the main motor. The vacuum head includes an auxiliary motor connected to the auxiliary impeller and configured to drive the auxiliary impeller. Both the main impeller and the auxiliary impeller are located in the air channel of the vacuum cleaner.

The vacuum head has a generally rectangular shape in one embodiment. The auxiliary motor and the auxiliary impeller are located at a substantially middle position along the longitudinal direction of the rectangle.

In one embodiment, the power difference between the main motor and the auxiliary motor is within 40%.

In another embodiment, the main body further includes a power source. A cable is also connected between the vacuum head and the main body. The auxiliary motor is powered by the power source through the cable.

The vacuum cleaner thus gets rid of the use of a single high power motor, and uses two motors to collectively produce a suction force. Both motors have lower power, but because they work together in a relay-race-like way, they produce a suction force similar to that of a single high power motor. This design makes the circuit design of the vacuum cleaner simpler, eliminating the need to configure high power components to meet the operating requirements of high power motors. In other words, the present utility model can use two smaller power motors as a combination to achieve the vacuuming effect of a high power motor. This not only reduces costs, improves overall efficiency, but also reduces noise.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The performance and advantages will be further understood by reference to the remainder of the specification and the accompanying drawings; the same components in the drawings have the same reference numerals. In some cases, a subtag is placed after a reference numeral and hyphen to represent one of many similar components. When referring to a reference numeral but does not specifically state an existing subtag, it refers to all of these similar components.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of the appearance of a vacuum cleaner according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing the position of an auxiliary motor in the vacuum head of the vacuum cleaner of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments use two motors and impellers to collectively generate suction so that two smaller power motors together produce a suction equivalent to a high power motor. Other different benefits and advantages provided by the various embodiments readily apparent from the following description.

Now turning to FIG. 1, in a first embodiment, a vacuum cleaner comprising components such as main body 20, vacuum head 24, and an air hose 22 connecting the main body 20 and the vacuum head 24. Wherein, the main body contains (neither is shown) a power source, a main motor connected to the power source, a main impeller connected to the main motor and driven by the main motor, a control portion, a user switch, a dust bag, and the like. The power source can be an AC adapter suitable for connection to a mains supply, or a battery pack. The main impeller is located in the duct of the main body 20, and one end of the duct is connected to the hose 22, and the other end of the duct is connected to the dust bag, so that dust impurities and the like which are sucked from the hose 22 by the main body 20 can be attracted to the dust bag due to the suction force (negative pressure) generated by the main impeller.

One end of the hose 22 is connected to the duct of the main body 20, and the other end is connected to the duct of the vacuum head 24, and they together constitute the air channel of the entire vacuum cleaner, that is, the air channel is from the air inlet of the vacuum head 24 to the dust bag of the main body 20. As shown clearly in FIG. 2, the vacuum head 24 has an auxiliary motor 28 located in the middle position of the vacuum head 24. The middle position referred to in this embodiment is based on the substantially rectangular shape of the vacuum head 24, and the middle position is located at a middle point in the longitudinal direction of the rectangle. As shown in FIG. 2, such a middle position causes the auxiliary motor 28 and the auxiliary impeller (not shown) fixed thereto to be aligned with an air outlet (not shown) of the hose 22 on the vacuum head which abuts the hose 22. In addition, an electric cable 26 is provided between the main body 20 and the vacuum head 24 in addition to the hose 22. The cable 26 connects the above described power source to the auxiliary motor 28 in the vacuum head 24 so that the latter can be powered. Preferably, the cable 26 can be secured to the hose 22 to change shape or movement together with the latter.

The power of the main motor and the auxiliary motor in the vacuum cleaner shown in FIGS. 1-2 are relatively small, and the power difference between them is not much. Preferably, the power difference between the auxiliary motor of the vacuum head and the main motor of the main body is within 40% (based on the highest power motor).

Now turning to the working principle of the vacuum cleaner shown in FIGS. 1-2. When the power source of the vacuum cleaner is started, the main motor and the auxiliary motor rotate at the same time, and together generate a suction force, since the main impeller and the auxiliary impeller are simultaneously located within the air channel of the vacuum cleaner. Specifically, the main motor and the auxiliary motor operate in a relay-race-like way. The auxiliary motor in the vacuum head increases the suction force of the front stage so that dust impurities near the vacuum head are relatively easily sucked into the vacuum head through the auxiliary impeller. At the same time, the main motor on the main body enhances the air flow so that the dust impurities sucked into the vacuum head further pass through the air hose to the main body. This design achieves the effect of a single high power motor with two smaller power motors, which achieves reducing costs, improving overall efficiency and reducing noise.

Therefore, after introducing several embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that various modifications, other structures, and equivalents can be used without departing from the spirit of the present utility model. Accordingly, the above description should not be taken as limiting the scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.

For example, the above mentioned vacuum head has a substantially rectangular direction, and the auxiliary motor and the auxiliary impeller are located at the substantially middle position along the longitudinal direction of the rectangle. However, those skilled in the art will appreciate that other types of vacuum heads can also be configured with auxiliary motors in accordance with the present utility model, such as gun shaped vacuum head, etc. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A vacuum cleaner, comprising: a main body comprising a main motor and a main impeller driven by the main motor; a vacuum head connected to the main body by an air hose; wherein the vacuum head further comprises an auxiliary motor connected to an auxiliary impeller and configured to drive the auxiliary impeller; the main impeller and the auxiliary impeller being both located in an air channel of the vacuum cleaner.
 2. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the vacuum head has a substantially rectangular shape; the auxiliary motor and the auxiliary impeller located at a substantially middle position along the longitudinal direction of the rectangle.
 3. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the power difference between the main motor and the auxiliary motor is within 40%.
 4. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the main body further includes a power source; a cable being further connected between the vacuum head and the main body; and the auxiliary motor being powered by the power source through the cable.
 5. The vacuum cleaner of claim 1, wherein the main body further includes a container configured to store debris, the container connected to the vacuum head by the air hose.
 6. The vacuum cleaner of claim 5, wherein the container includes a dust bag.
 7. The vacuum cleaner of claim 1, further comprising a power source for the main motor and the auxiliary motor.
 8. The vacuum cleaner of claim 7, wherein the power source includes a battery.
 8. The vacuum cleaner of claim 7, wherein when the power source is started, the main motor and the auxiliary motor rotate at the same time and together generate a suction force.
 9. The vacuum cleaner of claim 1, wherein both the auxiliary motor and the main motor increase a suction force in the air channel. 